Students put on show '“ in a pub!

A group of students from Carr Hill High School staged a drama production with a difference when they swapped their classroom for 
Wetherspoons

It wasn’t quite The Globe Theatre but performing arts students from the sixth form put on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the pub.

It was part of the students’ brief to perform in a non-theatrical 
environment.

Performing arts teacher at the Kirkham school Faye Sheffield said students had researched companies and artists who perform site-specific work and realised they had to consider external factors for their performance .

The comedy was adapted to become A Midsummer Pub Scenes and the new take on the Shakespeare classic aimed to modernise the context while remaining faithful to the text.

Miss Sheffield said: “As we aimed to perform a classical piece of theatre, we wanted to choose a space that would be relevant for this.

She worked to keep the language, but changed the context to meet the needs of the pub.

She added: “I have always wanted to perform Shakespeare’s comedy somewhere that I feel he would have appreciated.

“It was a huge challenge for the actors, as we had little rehearsal time in the space, so relied upon improvisation.

“Students also had to anticipate that people would be walking in and out of the performance and may even try and speak to them.

“Staying in character, with complete focus, was definitely a skill they all achieved.

“They should be very proud of themselves.”